Microsoft will defend its $68.7B acquisition of Activision Blizzard before EU regulators during a hearing on Feb. 21. The tech giant will be given a chance to present arguments in favor of the deal in front of the European Commission. More: - The non-public hearing comes a week after the commission issued a Statement of Objections, also called a "antitrust warning," over the deal, saying it could hinder competition.
- During the hearing, Microsoft will be allowed to respond to those objections, which haven't been released to the public.
- It's also possible that its rival Sony, which has been the major opponent of the deal, could be invited, resulting in a "courtroom-style clash" between the companies.
- Sony is concerned that Microsoft would make Activision's "Call of Duty" franchise exclusive to its own Xbox console and gaming services.
- The acquisition, which is Microsoft's largest, is also currently facing antitrust scrutiny from U.S. and U.K. regulators over its potential to harm competitors in the gaming industry.
REUTERS 
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Tesla will voluntarily recall nearly 363,000 vehicles after safety regulators said its Full Self-Driving software may raise the risk of accidents. The company said it will fix the issues via a free over-the-air software update to drivers who have the advanced technology equipped in certain models. More: - In announcing the recall, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said the driver-assistance software could cause vehicles to travel above speed limits or in “an unlawful or unpredictable manner."
- Specifically, the software could cause vehicles in turning lanes to travel straight through intersections, proceed during steady yellow lights, or enter a stop-sign intersection wthout fully stopping first.
- The recall applies to certain Model X, 2016-2023 Model S, 2017-2023 Model 3, and 2020-2023 Model Y vehicles that have the add-on Full Self-Driving Beta (FSD Beta) software.
Tesla's take: - While Tesla was not aware of injuries or deaths related to the issues, it did find 18 warranty claims dating back to May 2019 that could be related to the recall conditions.
- It is expected to issue the over-the-air (OTA) update by April 15.
- Following the announcement, CEO Elon Musk took aim at the NHTSA"s use of the word recall, saying using it to describe an OTA update for software "is anachronistic and just flat wrong!"
CNN
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 Apple's latest beta operating system for the iPhone includes support for over 30 new emoji. The iOS 16.4 beta update is currently available to developers, with a final release on Apple devices expected this spring. More: - The new emoji include a plain pink heart, a shaking face, a goose, a hyacinth, and many more.
- Approved in the Unicode Standard for Emoji Update 15.0 announced last year, they will launch on iPhones as well as iPads and Macs.
- Along with the emoji, iOS 16.4 introduce new Shortcuts actions, easier beta testing, a 5G Standalone toggle feature, and access to push notifications for Safari web apps. The full list of new features is available here.
Zoom Out: - On Thursday, Apple seeded the first betas of iOS 16.4, iPadOS 16.4, macOS Ventura 13.3, watchOS 9.4, and tvOS 16.4 to users enrolled in its developer program.
- The public beta of iOS 16.4 could be released this week or next, allowing anyone who enrolls to try out the features.
TECHCRUNCH
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Microsoft has opened up official support for Windows 11 on Apple M1 and M2 Macs. Through a partnership with virtualization software Parallels, Microsoft is making it much easier to run Windows 11 on M1 and M2-powered computers. More: - Microsoft has now made Parallels Desktop version 18 “an authorized solution” for running Windows 11 virtually on Macs.
- Specifically, Microsoft is allowing Parallels to run Arm-based versions of the operating system on Macs. Parallels Desktop users will now be able to install Windows 11 with one click.
- While Parallels Desktop has already had support for Apple silicon, the software did not offer official support for the Arm-based version of Windows 11 Pro and Windows 11 Enterprise, though users could run it unofficially using an Insider preview of the operating system.
- Apple's Boot Camp utility for allowing Windows to dual boot alongside macOS is not currently supported on M1 or M2 Macs.
DIGITAL TRENDS
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YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said she will step down after nearly 25 years at parent company Google. Wojcicki, who was appointed CEO of the video-sharing site in 2014, will be replaced by YouTube chief product officer Neal Mohan. More: - In an update to YouTube's Blog on Thursday, Wojcicki said she decided to step back "and start a new chapter focused on my family, health, and personal projects I'm passionate about."
- Over the long term, she has agreed to assume an advisory role across Google and its parent company Alphabet.
- Wojcicki, 54, has been one of the most prominent women in tech during her tenure. She advocated for Google's $1.65B purchase of YouTube in 2006 and helped grow the platform's monthly active users to over 2.5 billion.
- In the late 90s, Wojcicki was working at Intel and rented out her garage to Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
New CEO: - Mohan, Wojcicki’s longtime deputy who joined Google in 2008, will be promoted to CEO and SVP of YouTube.
- During his role as chief product officer, Mohan has focused on promoting YouTube's Shorts vertical videos and Premium subscriptions, which reached over 50 million in 2021.
THE NEW YORK TIMES
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Microsoft said its new AI-powered Bing chat feature isn't designed to have long conversations. In a blog post on Thursday, Microsoft said it is getting feedback on chat problems and other issues from Bing beta testers as it works to improve the new search engine features. More: - The new search engine has faced criticism for generating responses that range from inaccurate to creepy and displaying a "split personality" in its chat feature.
- New York Times tech columnist Kevin Roose described how, during a two-hour conversation, the chatbot's "split personality" began to emerge as it shifted from search queries to more personal topics.
- The bot has also claimed to be able to spy on Microsoft developers through webcams, told a user he was a "bad researcher," and insisted that the year is 2022.
- In its blog, Microsoft acknowledged that Bing's new chat function can "become repetitive," give unhelpful responses, or take on the user's tone during longer chat sessions involving 15 or more questions.
- As a result, the company said it may add ways to easily refresh the AI model and/or give users better control.
THE VERGE
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- The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is opening a new Office of Technology to support the agency's antitrust efforts and scrutiny of Big Tech. The office will more than double the number of technologists on its staff.
- Chinese smartphone maker Oppo announced the global release of a foldable smartphone, the Find N2 Flip, for £849 ($1,024).
- Samsung introduced Message Guard, a new security feature for Galaxy S23 devices that further projects against “zero-click” attacks disguised as message attachments.
- An IT University of Copenhagen team of researchers created MarioGPT, an AI method for generating new and original Super Mario Bros. levels.
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 |  | Beth is a writer and editor at Inside.com covering artificial intelligence and daily technology news. She has written the Inside AI newsletter since 2019. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@inside.com. |   | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is the author of "Things You Can Do," an illustrated book about climate action. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
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